Jasper's Point of View

Anniversary's speeches had come and gone in a blur of pretty words and mourning songs. The real meaning of the day had been in visited graves and private moments to remember what had been lost. Myra had come back from those visits with red eyes and puffy cheeks, but she seemed if not happier then...better. Something in her spirit had been healed, cleansed. If only he could say that visiting his uncle's grave had ever made him feel the same.      
   Myra wrapped her arm around his shoulder, stirring him from his thoughts."What are you worried about now?" She said, speaking lightly but with a tone of concern beneath it.

   "Nothing," he replied. Myra gave him a knowing look but didn't say anything. He didn't ask her about the growing shadows in her eyes either. They had learnt, over the past four years, when nothing meant I can't talk about it rather than I'm avoiding talking about it. Had learnt it during the countless nights when one of them had woken up screaming. Learnt to hold each other close rather than pressing for answers, learnt to simply be there and remind each other they had  made it out, that the war was over.

   Jasper relaxed into Myra's grip, absently stroking Fox as she jumped onto the couch, and let her steadying presence reassure him.

   The war is over, he told himself. You're alive and together and we'll cross the bridges ahead as one when we come to them.

———

After spending a few months—albeit scattered across the years—in Azul, Jasper thought he knew the city. He had seen it at its lowest, shattered and chained by the Empress. He had also seen it at its best: celebrating wildly after it had been freed, and then rebuilt and bedecked in TwinBirth decorations. He had believed that he knew as much as one could about Azul without living there full time—and he most certainly couldn't live there year-round, given the amount of travel required in his job in human, valkyrie and elf relations. And because of that limitation...

   He had been wrong. Jasper had never seen Azul on the day after Anniversary. He now understood why they called it the City of Stars.

   Across the whole city, candles were lit and placed on balconies, roofs, towers and purpose-made stands. Elfin-made lights floated through the air. Glowworms, taken from the caves within the Zerena Mountains, were scattered across buildings or levitated by bored sorcerers. It was like they were walking through a map of constellations. A kaleidoscope of stars and wonder.

   The vendors remained, frantically selling the last of the TwinBirth and Anniversary merchandise, only to slump home and be replaced by food stalls, passing out hot chocolate, warm soup and other hot food and drinks to keep the celebrators warm at night.

   As the sun at last slipped from the sky, the real show began. Tricorns (lesser, three-horned descendants of the extinct unicorns) rushed through the streets, showing off gold and silver manes that glittered as though filled with stars. Pegasi took to the air, sending a shower of sparks down to the earth. Wyverns and gryphons quickly followed, the former producing great jets of flame. Kestra smiled, self-satisfied. Nala and Layla watched with a mixture of awe and disappointment; Azul was currently winning Anniversary. Lysandra, on the other hand, watched on with a sort of steely determination. Jasper could already see the schemes unfolding in her mind for next year, when it would be Lysandria's turn to host the celebration.

   At last, they all converged in one of Azul's squares. The entire place had been cleared out for the occasion, along with nearby roads. It had clearly been built for celebrations as large as this; the plaza was abnormally large and had more than enough room for the thousands that now gathered there. Jasper tried not to think of the time over four years ago, when that beautiful, starlit square had been a battleground and a bloodbath.

   Then the music began. Not a solemn, slow march like those that had played yesterday nor a proud, glorious song of triumph, but a light, dancing piece. Hopeful. Bright. Yesterday had been for mourning and speeches. Tonight...Jasper reached for Myra's hand. Neither were dressed for dancing; not in their tight fighting leathers and with Myra's hidden blades occasionally poking whoever walked nearby, but he didn't care. She smiled at him, reaching out her hand. He took it and he spun her around and around. Laughing, she took another graceful step, closer to the throng of people who had begun to dance. Burning suns, she was good at this. Probably her training and that valkyrie grace, but he began to wonder if she'd learnt to dance before.

   "We study it as novices," she said, as though she could read his mind. "Dancing, I mean. A special form adapted to help us with our training. But," she added. "I learnt before them. My mother...she loved to dance. So when we were still living in Azul, before I was chosen to train and she still worked in the City Guard, she took me through some basic steps and I loved it. Later, she took me to proper lessons and I learnt from there. If I hadn't joined the army, I think I might have studied dancing as my Art. I never liked the lessons as much, though. When I really loved it was when we did it together, making up the routine as we went, tripping over each other and laughing and..." she trailed away, lost in the memory. Jasper smiled, not just because of the music and celebration. But because she so rarely talked of her mother, and the time before she'd gone into training. He knew how much it must have taken for her to tell him about something like that, something so incredibly personal. And for her to trust him enough to tell him...it meant the world.

   "Thank you," he said softly.She only nodded. Tears glistened in her eyes. It was always hard for her to talk about her mother. She hadn't yet told

him the full story, only snippets. But he'd heard enough from other people to piece together a vague picture of what had happened, and he knew it must have been terrible.

   But the sadness faded from her face as the music quickened. And soon they were laughing and dancing and stumbling through the crowd. The lights flickered around them, the rhythm of the song became their heartbeats and their laughter filled the air.

———

Myra

The square was beautiful. Beautiful, and bright and lovely. And for once, the memories dancing brought back weren't painful. Instead they only carried happiness and a hint of nostalgia as she remembered the old steps, the way the moves felt, the way the music took over. After a few dances, Jasper passed her over to Kestra and she and her daughter spun through the square. She had thought it might hurt then, but it didn't. And as Myra looked up at the stars above, she could have sworn she could see her mother's face looking down at her. If just for a moment.

   And then it was gone, and she was swept up in the tide of dancers once more.

———

Nala

"You call that dancing?" Lysandra snorted. "That lot have as much grace as two hippos in a race."

   "At least they're better than that pair, over there," Nala replied, pointing to two elves who were swaying rather violently, more likely from alcohol

than any inclination to dance. Lysandra caught a glimpse of them and snorted so hard her own wine went flying.

   An idea came to her. Nala was tempted to shut it down immediately; it would be the only logical thing to do, after all, but...they were alive when so many others weren't, when they'd scraped so very, very close to death. So why not?

   "Dance with me?" Nala asked, holding out her hand to her friend.

   "I thought you'd never ask." Lysandra replied.

———

Layla

Goddesses above, this music...the way it spun and danced through the air, the rhythm so complex and layered that it seemed to be alive...the only person she knew who could have attempted such a song was her father, Orion. Even listening to it, Layla knew she would never be able to do it justice, this complex tangle of melody and countermelody.

   Without meaning to, she began to dance. Just small, soft movements, little more than swaying and tapping her feet to the rhythm, but it felt right. Slowly, she started to fall deeper into the music, to fell herself fading into the notes and the tunes and the feel of it...the first words slipped from her mouth, followed by a cascade of others. She might never have heard the song before, but soon the singer's part was clear to her as any memorised piece. Some of her magic leaked through and the elfin lights floating above her pulsed brighter, gathered closer around her until she was surrounded by a hovering crown of stars.

   Layla had been so immersed in the music that she didn't notice Kestra creep up on her until the Keeper Queen reached out her hand to the Elfin one and slowly, the two girls began to dance amongst the stars.